7 Basic Things the First iPhone Couldn’t Do
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It’s easy to forget just how far we iPhone fans have come: It hasn’t even been 20 years since the first iPhone was launched in 2007, but despite how similar the design has remained, a whole lot has changed, too. While the iPhone was revolutionary with its embrace of a full touchscreen and slim, simple design, there have been a lot of changes since then. In fact, you may be surprised about just what the first iPhone couldn’t do, including basic features that we take for granted on all phones today. Read on to take a trip back in time and imagine the 1st-gen iPhone without these capabilities.
Copy and Paste Content
It sounds a little silly now that touchscreens are everywhere and their controls have become intuitive, but the first iPhone didn’t have any options to copy and paste content from one thing to another. It took two years for iOS to get an update that finally allowed that. Although, this admittedly wasn’t as much of an issue for the very first iPhone-havers, because of another little missing feature…
Use Third-Party Apps
Apple has always had a fairly closed ecosystem, but it’s easy to miss just how closed it used to be. The first iOS was Apple apps only. You couldn’t download Facebook, use your preferred email client, or anything else. In fact, it was Apple evolving on this point and inviting in third-party developers that allowed the company to zoom past BlackBerry so quickly, as BlackBerry didn’t take many steps to make popular third-party apps compatible with its operating system.
Record Video
From FaceTiming to finding the right Camera app filter, videos are ubiquitous in today’s iPhones – it’s inconceivable that you could have a smartphone that couldn’t take video. But it was a different world back in 2007…and the first iPhone didn’t have any video capabilities. The hardware only supports snapping photos – which was still a very important selling point for its time (keep in mind, Instagram wouldn’t come along until 2010).
Switch Carriers or Upgrade to 3G
The first iPhone ran on 2G wireless, and if you weren’t there in the Beforetimes – well, it was incredibly slow, and far less reliable before 3G finally came along and gave us reasonable cellular service. You also couldn’t pick your carrier at first, either: The 1st-gen iPhone was supported by AT&T, with no other choices. In fact, Apple exclusively partnered with AT&T for the first years of its iPhone line before finally expanding to other options.
Talk to Siri
Believe it or not, Siri wasn’t always part of Apple. When the first iPhone came out, voice assistants were only a gleam in the eyes of a few developers. No voice assistants, no voice commands, no integrations with other devices via the Home app, and so on. You could certainly ask your iPhone a question out loud, but you wouldn’t get any response other than some strange looks from others.
Use the Control Center
What Control Center? The first iPhone has basic settings options, but there was no Control Center to bring up for a quick photo, AirPlane mode, turning off Bluetooth, and so on. You can forget about a Flashlight tool too, because the 1st-gen iPhone didn’t even have one – the camera wasn’t equipped with an LED flash at all, so it couldn’t double as a flashlight. Back in the old days, some people actually started selling “white screen” apps that could act as flashlights before Apple finally added the feature.
Unlock the Phone with Biometrics like Touch ID
Now that the majority of iPhone users have moved on to Face ID logins, it’s hard to imagine a time when no biometric features were included with the iPhone at all, not even a Touch ID option. Your primary security measure was the passcode…and that’s about it, until Touch ID came out. The iPhone didn’t even get a front-facing camera that could potentially scan faces until much later, with the iPhone 4.
Change the Home or Lock Screen Background
It sounds incredibly infuriating today, but the first iPhone came with a set stock image for its lock screen – a picture of planet earth – and there were no other wallpapers available, nor any way to exchange it for another photo, etc. And forget about adding a background to your home screen – you got little icons for your apps, and you enjoyed them!
